The Undecided voter, make a decision already.

(note: This post is the first of hopefully a series written by my friend Bob,who is currently working as a contractor in Iraq and is one of the most hard-core political junkies I know.)

I have been following the Presidential election as closely as I can what with being in Iraq and all and heard some commentator refer to the what I believe has become the staple of American politics and that is The Undecided Voter. This particular commentator was talking about how with only two days to go until the Michigan Primary there was something like nine percent of voters who claim to be undecided? This makes me ask the question "Who are these people?" I mean how is it possible for someone to not know with only two days before the election who they are going to vote for? I might remind you that I am referring to people who vote in primaries. These are individuals who by all accounts are the people the most interested, involved, and passionate about the political process. The grassroots activists,party faithful, union members, NRA,NARAL, Veterans groups, religious groups and of course political junkies like myself. These voters are suppose to be among the most involved and informed voters and yet we have large numbers of people who claim right up to going into the polling booth to be "undecided". I would argue that we aren't choosing what ice cream flavor to pick at Baskin Robbins we are choosing a President.My question is how can a voter not know who they are, that's what this comes down to. See if you know who you are and what you believe it is very easy to decide on a candidate. I for example know that I value freedom, personal responsibility, individual liberty and rights, the sanctity of life, and a strong vibrant military. There for I am naturally drawn to the Republican party, after listening to all of the candidates running for office. Hearing the positions and ideas I then narrow down the ones I can't vote for. I first eliminate Ron Paul because while I like his libertarian views on personal freedom and spending I believe he is clueless on the need to aggressively fight the war on terror. Then I eliminate Duncan Hunter who I like on most issue but realize that he cannot win and think that he is a bit to much of an establishment candidate. I then go through all the candidates until I find one that I can support. In this case I chose Governor Mike Huckabee for a myriad of reasons. I knew several weeks before the election that I would cast my vote for the Governor. Now the question I pose to you is how can anyone who plans to vote and is in anyway informed not know who they are going to vote for? While I do understand that candidates taking watered down positions doesn't help in the decision making if you know what you believe its still rather easy to choose.I believe this happens first because people are afraid in some cases to take a firm stand for whatever reason. Second because they are waiting to see which candidate will kowtow to them and whatever set of issues is important too them, and third because too many voters base there votes on how they "feel" about a candidate. A good example of this is the Barack Obama candidacy, here is a man who undoubtedly has great skill as an orator, a lot of charisma, and extreme intelligence. Yet anyone who is honest with themselves will admit that this man has virtually no experience, little back ground, and will need a lot of o.j.t. ( on the job training) and yet he is in contention for the Democratic Party nomination because of how he makes people "feel" haven't we learned our lesson. I mean we got President Bush because Republicans "felt" good about him.Now I believe he has been a decent President and strong leader, but if the GOP in 2000 had based its decision on who would make the best President then John McCain would have been the nominee and would have gone on to beat Al Gore like a drum. Basing how you vote on your feelings can only lead to disaster. We end up with people who make us feel good about ourselves and possibly bypass better leaders.Time and time again I hear people talk about how just days before an election they are undecided and I just want to say "Hey Grow some balls, examine what you believe and make a damned decision already!" after all we are choosing the leader of the free world here, not a Fraternity President. Take a stand people, after all ITS IMPORTANT!